Wire reel control



Oct. 3l, 195,0 J. BANAszAK WIRE REEL CONTROL Filed Nov. 14, 1946llHHlHllllwly atenteci ct. 3i, 1g5

,UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE WIRE REEL CONTROL Joseph Banaszak,Chicago, Ill., assignor to' Sleep-A makers, Inc., a corporation ofIllinois Application November 14, 1946', Serial No. 709,683

claims. (c1. 242-156) The present invention relates generally to a, wirereel control, but more particularly to a novel and improved device forautomatically stopping and controlling the speed of an unwinding reel ofwire.

The present invention has particular adaptation for controlling thespeed of unreeling wire or wire reel for a variety of purposes, but hasvespecial application in connection with controlling the supply of wireto a machine for making or forming coil springs and the like type ofmachines.

In supplying or feeding wire to this or other types of machines, thespeed of the wire fed thereto is usually uniform, but when the wire isunwound or Vdrawn from an uncontrolled revolving reel ofv wire, themomentum of the revolving reel of wirecauses it to exceed its normalspeed requirements, resulting in the feeding of -an eX- cess amount ofwire, which usually becomes H@tangled and therefore interrupts anddelays the .efcient operation of the spring forming machine.

Then too, occasionally the spring forming or :spring coiling machinesbecome jammed up and :automatically stops and unless the unvvinding:.reel of wire is simultaneously stoppedwith, the amachine, the reelwill continue to'unwind the `wire with the result that a mass of tangledwire v is strewn about the place.

,It is `therefore the primary object of the present invention to Anotonly overcome the difficulty hereinbefore pointed out, but to provide asimple and efficient control for the feeding of an unlreeling roll ofwire and will also automatically vstop the rotation ofthe revolving reelsimul- Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the lline 3-3 in Fig. lof the drawings showing di- Vagrammatically how the solenoid isconnected V.through Ya wiring circuit to one of the control members ofthe spring forming machine; andv Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectionalview ktaken on the lines 4-4 in Fig. 1.

In illustrating one form which my invention .Amay assume in practice, Ihave shown the same as comprising a substantially circular pedestal orbase member I0 which is adapted to rest on and be secured to the floor.The base member is provided with a vertically and upwardly ex- Y tendingand centrally located sleeve portion II.

`Secured by means of a set screw I2 in the sleeve which is in axialalignment with the axis of the f'tubular standard I3. rigidlysupportstherein a vertically extending shaft 'I9.`

This bore receives and `Journ`aled on the shaft I9 is a circular ,disc2D. Secured to the disc 20 are four radially projecting arms 2| arrangedat right angles with` respect to one another. Secured to the outerportion of each ofv these diametrally positioned arms 2I are reelsupporting members,

taneously with the stopping of the machine to which the wire is fed.

A. still further object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved adjustable governor control for uniformly feeding wire from anunreeling roll of wire in which a tubular y standard forms the supportfor the automatic stop for positively stopping the rotation of the reelsimultaneously with the stopping of the machine to which the wire isfed.

These and other objects are accomplished by 1; .providing a constructionand an arrangement of vthe various partsrin the manner hereinafter delscribed and particularlyzpointed out in the ap- .pended claims.

.- @Referring tothe drawingszl A Fig.Y flis a side elevational View ofmy improved unreeling wire control vwith a portion thereof l shown incross section;

: Fig'. 2 is an enlarged cross Vsectional view taken on the line 2-V2 inFig.Y 1 of the drawings;

generally indicated by the reference character 22. These members 22 arepreferably made of fflat steel bars of identical configuration andinclude yraised central and horizontally extending portions 23.Substantially vertically depending portions 24 which are equally spacedfrom the axial center of the shaft I9. The lower portions of thesemembers 22 are bent in substantially right angles to the verticalportions as shown at .25 so as to form horizontally projecting portions26.` r These portions 26 of the members 22 are welded to the adjacentradial arms 2l. The outer "ends of each 0f these members 22 are turnedupwardly to form vertical supports, as shown at 21, for'an annularvorcircular ring 28. The ring J28 is welded to the upper end of thesesupports jf'The construction thus far described forms th frevolving reelin which a roll or reel of wire, as

vshown in broken lines indicated by the reference character 30, may besupported. The wire from l roll may b'e drawn off by a single strandarms 44.

4vertically depending pins 55. v reciprocally mounted in oppositelydisposed verti-V 3 as shown at 3l. Secured to the underside of thehorizontal portion of each of the members 22 is a circular disc 32.Located in the axial center of the disc 32 is a circular or bearingrecess 33 forming the journal connection between the upper end of theshaft and the revolving reel.

The mechanism for controlling the uniform feed of the unreeling wireincludes a novel governor control which is provided with two types ofadjustment so that the limit of the speed may be varied to meet therequirements of the machine to which the wire is being fed. `llhis novelgovernor control includes a collar 34 which embraces and is secured tothe tubular standard I3 by means of a set screw 35. The collar 34 isprovided with an annular flange 36 on the lower face of which is secureda leather braking washer 37. Slidably mountedon and journaled onthetubular standard I3 is rotatable braking member 38 which has an annularflange 39` whose upper face is adapted to move into engagement with theleather washer 3l to limitthe speed of the revolving reel in the mannerhereinafter disclosed. rIhis braking member has oppositely disposedspaced apart apertured ears-40 to which are pivotally mounted, as shownat 4I, oppositely disposed curved links 42. The upper ends of theselinks d2 are pivotally connected, as shown at 43, to oppositely disposedsuspended governor These governor arms 44 lare provided with a series ofspaced apart apertures'45 for adjusting the position of the upper endsof the links l2 to vary the limit of speed of the revolving reel. Thegovernor arms 44 are each provided with the usual governor weights 45which may be adjusted along the length of each of the arms 'and securedthereto by suitable set screws 4`i-to `furnish another means for varyingthe speed limit of bolts I From the above description it will be obviousf that as the revolving reel Areaches a predetermined speed or a speedin excess of thatY-set'by the adjustment of Vthe governor, thecentrifugal force of the revolving reel will cause the governor armsfll, together with their respective weights 46 to swing outwardly upontheir Vrespective pivots @i8 on the bracket Eccand thereby cause theupper face of the flange 330i the governor member 38 to engage thebraking surface of the leather washer 3l' to restrict the speed andmaintain the unreeling of the wire at a uniform predetermined speed.

n combination with my improved means :for maintaining a uniform speed ofthe revolving reel, I have employed common and associated parts to forma stopping mechanism to stop the reel simultaneously with the stoppingof the machine with which my improved reel control is used. This novelmeans includes a disc or washer-like member 52 which is secured to theunderside of the disc 12E) by means of screws 53.

Secured to the underside of the disc 52 is a leather or braking washer54. Adapted to move into'en- The braking disc 55 is rigidly securedtothe upper ends or two oppositely disposed and These pins Y56 are calbores 5l formed in the hub or housing mem- Cil ber I'I. The lower endsof the pins 56 project into an annular recess 58 formed in the lowerhalf of the hub Il. Reciprocally mounted in the recess 58 of the hub I'Iand adapted to engage the lower ends of each of the pins 56 is a plateor disc 59. The plate or disc 59 rests upon and is normally pressedupwardly by four uniformally spaced apart springs Eil. The springs 60are seated in four uniformally spaced apart sockets 6! formed in the capmember I5, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings. Secured tothe axial center of the disc or plate 59 by means of a nut 52 is a rod53. The rod 63 is reciprocally mounted within the tubular standard i3and extends into central hollow portion of the base I0. The-.flowerendfof the rod 63 has its lower end bifurcated as shown at 54 so as tostraddle a lever 65. The bifurcated portion 54 of the rod 63 has alignedapertured ears 83 in which a pin 61 pivotally connects the lower end ofthe rod to the lever 55. The pin El extends through a horizontal slit 68in the lever 65. The lever 65 is pivotally connected as shown at 69 to abracket 'I0 .secured to and within the base by means of screws lI. Thefreel end of the lever S5 projects through a slotted-opening l2 formedin the base Y member IG and has its outer end twisted as shown at 'E3 toform a foot pedal. Secured to the base l0 -adjacent the slotted opening12 is a bracket lll, which is secured to the base by meansof screws orbolts i5. The bracket 'I4 has vertically extending wall or at portion'I6 formed integrally therewith. Pivoted to the wall- I6 as shown at'I'I is a-latch member l. The lower end of the latch member 'E8 has arectangular recess 'I9 for receiving and locking therein the leverv asclearly `shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. The recess T9 in themember' 'I8 forms a laterally projecting linger 8U which normallyengages the lower edge -of the vlever-55 when Vthe foot pedal 'i3 isdepressed to actuate the latch I8 toits normally locked position. Thelatch member 'I8 is normally held in the locked position, or theposition shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, by a lever member El which ispivoted at 82 tolthe verticalfwall 75. One end of the lever 8I has anotch -formed therein to engage the'upper end of the latch '58. rhelever is normallyactuated i in a direction to engage the latch 'i8 by atension gagement with the braking washer 54 to inter- .rupt or stop therotation of the reel, is a braking disc, 55.

springt@ which has one end thereof attached to a pinY carried by thelever 8l -and the other' end thereof attached to a pin 8B carried bythewall'IS. -A laterally projecting lug 8l forms a stop for the lever 8l.The other end of the lever SI Vis pivotally connected as shown at 8l toa reciprocable member 8B of a conventional type of solenoid, generallyindicated by the reference character 89.` The solenoid 39 is mounted inany convenient manner on the bracket lll. V'The'mechanism may besuitably housed by a sheet metal box, generally indicated by thereference character 90. The solenoid 89 is provided with the usualterminals QI and electric circuit wire connectionsQZ, the latter ofwhichmay be connected to a suitable switch or relay generally indicatedby the reference character The switch in this instance may be vactuatedby a lever'94 pivoted onl a suitable port 94' of the machine to whichthe wire is being fed. The lever 94 in this linstance may control theoperation ofsany type of spring forming machine or the like, whichy isactuated to control the operation of the same. The lever 94, also may beautomatically actuated, one for example, by an accumulation of springswhich clog up the operation of thespring forming makthereforevbe seenthat as the operation of the lspring forming machine is interrupted orstopped `This permits the four springs 69 to actuate the disc 59upwardly, which in turn, through the pins,v

forces vthe braking plate 55 against the leather brake 54 of the reeland thereby brakes or stops the revolving reel.l

summarizing the advantages and function of operation of my novel andimproved control for the unreeling or unwinding of wire from a revolvingreel, it will be readily seen that I have provided a device which willnot only feed the wire at a uniform speed, but will also provideadjustment to vary such speeds and to permit a stopping of the reelsimultaneously with the stopping or interruption of the machine to whichthe wire is fed. During the normal operation of the reel, the foot lever13 is depressed and locked in the position shown in Figs. l and 3 of thedrawings. In this position, this lever holds the rod 63 downwardly bycompressing the plate 59 against the compression springs 6l and therebyholds the braking or stop plate 55 away from the braking leather washer54 so that the reel proper is free to revolve on the shaft I9. As theWire yis unreeled within a predetermined speed, as determined by theadjustment of the governor control, the friction surface 39 of thecollar 38 is held in close proximity to the braking disc 31 by thegovernor control and if the speed f the reel should be in excess of thatset, the braking action will take place by reason of the centrifugalaction of the governor to retard the speed in a manner similar to thatof a conventional governor. However, if for any reason the machine towhich the wire is being fed is accidentally interrupted or stopped, orfor the reason that springs formed thereon accumulate in such a fashionas to actuate the control lever 94 carried by the machine, then and inthat case the actuation of that lever 94 closes the circuit or switch 93and thereby energizes the solenoid 89 which, in turn, through theconnections hereinbefore described, releases the lever B5 and throughit, the rods 63. The releasing of the rod 63 permits the pressuresprings 6B to actuate the braking disc 55 against the braking washer 64to simultaneously stop the revolving reel with the stopping of theassociated machine to which the wire is fed.

In this connection it will also be noted that I have not only providedan automatic means for stopping the rotation of the reel and agovernorstructure which is simple in construction. and

eilicient in operation.

While in the above specictaion I have described one embodiment which myinvention may assume in practice, it will, of course, be understood thatthe same is capable of modification and that modication may be madewithout de parting from the spirit and scope of the invention asexpressed in the following claims.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. -A wire reel control mechanism `comprising 1a base, a verticaltubular standard secured to said base, a reel journaled on saidstandard, a braking collar surrounding and secured to said standard,governor means carried by said reel and operatively related to saidbraking collar, a `-second braking member carried by said reel, anon-rotating member carried by said standard `and adapted to move intoengagement with` said second braking member, a lever pivoted to saidbase, a rod extending through said standard for operatively connectingsaid lever with said non-rotating member, and means for normallypressing said non-rotating member into engagement with 'said secondbraking member for interrupting the rotation of said reel. f f

2. A wire reel control mechanism comprising a base, a vertical tubularstandard secured to said base, a reel journaled on said standard, abraking collar surrounding and secured to said standard, governor meanscarried by said reel and operatively related tosaid braking collar, asecond braking member carried by said reel, a non-rotating membercarried by said standard and adapted to move into engagement with saidsecond braking member, a lever pivoted to said base, a rod extendingthrough said standard for operatively connecting said lever with saidnon-rotating member, and spring actuated means for normally pressingsaid non-rotating member into engagement with said second braking memberfor interrupting the rotation of said reel.

3. A wire reel control mechanism comprising a base, a vertical tubularstandard secured to said base, a reel journaled on said standard, abraking collar surrounding and secured to said standard, governor meanscarried by said reel and operatively related to said braking collar, asecond braking member carried by said reel, a non-rotating membercarried by said standard and adapted to move into engagement with saidsecond braking member, a lever pivoted to said base, a rod extendingthrough said standard for operatively connecting said lever with saidnon-rotating member, means for normally pressing said nonrotating memberinto engagement with said second braking member for interrupting therotation of said reel, and means responsive tothe energization of asolenoid for controlling said last named means.

4. A wire reel control mechanism comprising a base, a vertical tubularstandard secured to said base, a reel journaled on said standard, abraking collar surrounding and secured to said standard, governor meanscarried yby said reel and operatively related to said braking collar, asecond braking member carried by said reel, a nonrotating member carriedby said standard and adapted to move into engagement with said secondbraking member, a lever pivoted to said base, a rod extending throughsaid standard for operatively connecting said lever with said non-rotating member, means for urging said non-rotating member into engagementwith said second braking member, a latch member pivotally supported l onsaid base and engageable with said lever, a

solenoid mounted on said base, and operatively related to said latch,and means responsive to the closing of an electric circuit forenergizing said solenoid to render said braking mechanism operative tostop said reel.

5. A wire reel control mechanism comprising a base, a vertical tubularstandard secured to said base, a reel journaled on said standard, abraking collar surrounding and secured to said standard,

f'vriior manscarried byrsai'd:reelfandbpera- :tively related to #saidbraking collar, `a-fsecond ,1 -braking member carriedfby said reel,.anon-rotat- `lengageable with said non-rotary member for urging the sameinto engagement with said second --braking member, a latchpiVotally-supported on said baseand engageable with said leverga secondlever pivoted on said base and engageable 4with 4-said 1atch,-and asolenoid mounted on said base and operatively related to said `secondnamed lever.

JOSEPH BANAS ZAK.

T8 f fREFERENCES CITED "The following references are of record in theflefof Ythis patent:

UNITED `S'Il/-XTES PATENTS L1\Tun 1ber AName Date "752,279 Bacon Feb.16, 1904 '779,284 Johnson et al Jan. 3, 1905 1,054,923 KennyA Mar. 4,1913 1,418,706 Hampton June 6, 1922 "1;98730'79 VRosenmund J'an. 8, 1935L* '2;1'47j7'76 4Mitchell Feb. 21, 1939

